Wednesday, December 28, 2011

I've started the rewrite of Book #4 to take it from MS3 to MS4 (manuscript 4). MS4, when completed, is the first version that gets submitted to professional editors. Because Book #4 is the conclusion of the serial (not the series), it is a convergence of a number of plot lines and many (but not all) the secrets kept by the characters are revealed. It is the most intense of the four books and my rewrite not only deepens the characterization but the intensity of the drama. Each book rises in intensity progressively not only to build the drama but to allow more sensitive readers to opt out if things get too intense.

Although most early readers I have talked to have had no problems, bear in mind that this series has some parents who are not nice people and this may be the first time a middle school reader encounters the idea that a parent may raise a kid as a tool to achieve their own ambitions, not for the kid's best interest. Some of the alien characters do worse things to the kids. Some may wonder why would I include such horrific characters in a middle school novel. I leave those people with this metaphor: A shiny jewel is best shown on a black background.

With that introduction, here is an excerpt from the rewritten part of Book #4 chapter #2. This is not polished so there may be mistakes in it. The setup: Elof2 is a 20 year old Tibetan-American. Paul7 is a 9 year-old blue-eyed blond human-looking boy who can shoot lightning bolts from his fingers. He is the policeman for an advanced culture---these nine-year-old kids, the Pauls, are used as policemen because at 9 years-old, these kids are unquestioningly devoted to their culture as if it is their parent. Paul7 has been assigned to protect Elof2. But he cares about Elof2 more than just policeman, perhaps wishing he would be his parent...all Pauls are orphans. The dotted line signifies part of the text I have redacted to avoid giving away the story line.

“I decided to save you from any annoying retort from the ‘Killing Bastard of Silicon Valley’,” mocks Paul7, sharing Elof2’s digust.

“Say the word, Dad,” thinks Paul7. “Say the word and I will reduce him to a pile of dust. Please, Dad. I can’t stand to feel you cry inside—say the word!”

“The darkness within Paul7 whispers, “You must not. They will know I am within you.”

“Thank you,” says Elof2. “I was already upset enough thinking about cleaning out the room I grew up in, without listening to his insults.”

“I sense the wound within you, Dad,” Paul7 silently worries. “He has torn it open—he is bleeding the love from your heart. I need your love—do not spill it to the darkness. Save it for me. Save it for me, Dad.” He knows Elof2 is close to cracking. He cannot consult anyone telepathically because Elof2 would hear. Then something happens which Paul7 could never foresee. It shocks him. A tear drips from his eye. He is terrified that he is experiencing emotion.

......

“Let’s
get this over with quickly so you can end your suffering,” instructs
Paul7. “Place your hands on each side of his head as if you were going
to link with him. I will put my hands on each side of yours and guide
you as you learn the memory erase technique.”

Like a brain
surgeon’s robot under Paul7’s direction, Elof2 begins to erase his
life’s history from Ed’s mind. They remain linked to Ed for several
minutes. Elof2 finishes the link and has a tear in his eye. Paul7
remains linked to Elof2. His eyes begin to glow brightly. Elof2 has a
look of sadness and surprise when he realizes what Paul7 is doing.
Elof2 begins to scream in pain—his shock-ridden body quivers, as the
scalpel of chaos repeatedly slashes the order of his mind. Paul7’s hands
begin glowing, gripping ever tighter as if he is a murderer in a battle
to triumph over life. Elof2 becomes silent. He stands there limp, as if
he is a mindless zombie—his carefully ordered and cherished memories
flow from him like bloody brain-mash. The murder has succeeded. All
emotional connections between Elof2 and his so called father are gone.

Paul7 releases Elof2. He watches Elof2, terrified with what he has
done. Elof2 has become a statue. His eyes sparkle occasionally with an
eerie faded blue light. His mind struggles to fight its way back from
the pit of oblivion to the light of consciousness. His body jolts. His
mind has resumed control. He displays a slightly sad, somewhat stoic
look, unaware of what Paul7 has done.

“I never thought I would
be sad to leave him,” muses Elof2 sadly. “I guess there is no overcoming
human emotion and the need for a parent and a home. And yet, I feel so
strange—as if somehow his grip has been released from me—with every
passing moment I feel he is eminently forgettable.” He pierces Paul7
with a suspicious gaze.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

If
you read my serial book: "The Saeshell Book of Time" from the Children of Sophista Series, there are a lot of thoughts about randomness verses determinism . The human mind was born in the randomness. Random gene combinations were tried until a brain was born and then a brain that was capable of thinking logically was created. So although randomness created our brains, our brains have deterministic thoughts.

So here is something to have a deterministic thought about: Say you tune to a
certain range of radio frequencies and receive signals
from space. Each frequency in the range has a digit assigned to it, 0-9. So you are monitoring 10 frequencies. Each time your machine for monitoring these frequencies detects a signal, it spits out one of those digits to indicate what frequency it detected the signal on.

Here comes the output: 2, 6,
5, 3, 5, 8, 9, 7, 9.... Looks pretty random. So you think the
randomness is just transmitting random radio signals, the emissions of
uncountable celestial bodies. What else
could it be?

Little did you know that you jumped into the middle of the
transmission of the irrational number, Pi. Pi is the structure of the signal and although the signal seems random, the sequence of the digits is absolutely deterministic. Think about how many possible irrational numbers there
are. I wonder if any of them are being transmitted?

Maybe all of them are being transmitted at once. If that is the case, perhaps the randomness has a deterministic structure. Perhaps randomness is determinism that is not understood. What does that say about our actions and destiny?

Monday, December 12, 2011

Here are the final paragraphs of Book #3 of the MS4 version of the manuscript. These paragraphs are past the plot end so they won't
spoil the book. They serve as the teaser for the next book of this highly connected serial. Syon is
Stefan's son from the future. He can control time and can travel in
time. I believe he is 9 years old at this point and has bright purple hair
and golden eyes. He has brought the Ty from the future back to see the
events covered at the end of the book. Ty from the future is approximately a 5th grader.

Here are the last paragraphs of the book:

Meanwhile, an older Ty and Syon are floating invisibly in a time bubble across the room.
Ty says to Syon, “Thank you for bringing me here to see this moment. I
always wondered what happened when I left the room. I was so scared back
then. Still, sometimes my talents scare me now.”

“Your talents
scare you? Look at what I am doing now. This is scary. Yet, I use my
talents all the time. I enjoy them. They define who I am. You cannot be
afraid to use them.”

“You know, I never realized it until now.
You really are similar to your dad. I think he would look better with purple hair, though.”

“Syon smiles a huge smile and quietly
giggles a little. “Come on; let’s go forward a little bit. I just love
what you do to the lizard man.”

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About Me

Everyone has hidden talents. At some point in your childhood, you selected a fork in the road and decided which of your good talents you would pursue. My first fork led me through government funded school research, corporate funded research, finally to various bleeding edge projects in Silicon Valley. Now, I am looping backwards in time so that I can try the other fork. I am on a campaign to help kids keep those brain cells us adults no longer have. Use them or lose them.